16 Apprenticeship Standards Axed as Government Unveils £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant

Sixteen apprenticeship standards are to be defunded as part of the Government’s biggest transformation of apprenticeships in a decade, with some of the sector’s most widely-used leadership and management programmes among those axed.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden confirmed the defunding as part of a wider “New Deal” for young people announced today, with the Government seeking to rebalance apprenticeship funding towards younger learners amid a 40% decline in starts among young people over the last decade.

The Government says:

“This means apprenticeship standards that do not meet the country’s skills priorities or take resources away from opportunities for young people and could be better delivered through on the job training will be defunded.”

The full list of standards to be defunded is:

• Facilities Management Supervisor
• Improvement Practitioner
• Improvement Leader
• Custody and Detention Professional
• Security First Line Manager
• Public Sector Compliance Investigator and Officer
• Cleaning Hygiene Operative
• Professional Security Operative
• Outdoor Learning Specialist
• Coaching Professional
• Learning and Skills Assessor
• Learning and Skills Mentor
• Lead Practitioner in Adult Care
• Team Leader (Level 3)
• Operations Manager (Level 5)
• Chartered Manager (Level 6)

Youth Jobs Grant

The Government has confirmed a new Youth Jobs Grant, offering businesses £3,000 for every young person aged 18-24 they hire who has been on Universal Credit and looking for work for six months. Expected to support 60,000 young people over three years, the grant forms part of a wider £2.5 billion package aimed at delivering up to 500,000 opportunities for young people over the next three years.

SME Apprenticeship Incentive

A £2,000 Apprenticeship Incentive will be available for SMEs for each new employee aged 16-24 they take on. The incentive forms part of wider apprenticeship reforms designed to drive progress toward a target of creating 50,000 more apprenticeships for young people.

Jobs Guarantee Extended to 18-24

Additional £1 billion to be invested in grants to help unlock over 200,000 paid jobs for young people, with Jobs Guarantee to be expanded to ages 18-24. As half of all NEETs are 22-24, the extension is designed to reach those most at risk of long-term unemployment.

The measures form part of the Government’s commitment to ensuring every young person aged 16-24 has the opportunity to earn or learn.

Sector Reaction

Petra Wilton, Policy Director at the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), said:

“Ministers’ decision to defund all core management and leadership apprenticeships will be a critical setback to efforts to revive the UK’s lagging productivity. Management apprenticeships are not a luxury for those seeking progression; they have been a lifeline for businesses and public sector organisations looking to use their Levy to drive up performance.  For so many managers, they have also improved social mobility and allowed frontline managers to progress in the workplace through in-depth training that drives deep behavioural changes in the workplace culture.

“Over 5,000 employers and apprentices signed a petition calling for the safeguarding of these vital routes to upskilling managers. Yet their voices appear to have been ignored in this decision amid a lack of transparency about what, if any,  impact assessments were carried out to justify this policy change.

“This decision is set against a backdrop of 82% of UK managers being promoted into the role without any management training; the prevalence of ‘accidental managers’ is damaging growth and international competitiveness.  The new emphasis on training young people is clearly important, but they also need effective line managers to ensure they are successful in the workplace.

“The evidence to support structured, funded management apprenticeships is clear.

• Social mobility – 71% of management apprentices are first-generation higher education students, and 39% come from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
• Lynchpins in getting young people into work – and keeping them there. A cohort of NEETS will not ease into work – and will definitely not thrive – without the support of trained line managers.
• Public service efficiency and delivery: nearly half of management apprentices (49%) work in the public sector including in health, education and public administration.
• They deliver proven economic gain: management apprenticeships added £120m to UK GDP in a single year (2023–24).

“Employers who face rising employment costs and tough economic conditions now look to the Government for early reassurance that they can use their Levy to fund alternative routes such as high quality, short courses and apprenticeships units to meet their critical management and leadership skills needs. 

“Key to any new, shorter courses, will be active input from employers, training providers and professional bodies to co-design a model capable of delivering meaningful upskilling for the UK workforce at this time of rapid transformation.”

Ben Harrison, Director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University:

“The new Youth Jobs Grant has the potential to improve on previous proposals that limited sustained support to 18-21 year olds who had been out of work for over 18 months.

“With nearly a million young people out of education, employment or training, and vacancies having fallen sharply since the pandemic, these new grants for businesses could help incentivise them to employ 18-24 year olds before they slip into long term unemployment.

“But in a challenging labour market, Ministers should ensure interventions are focused on the needs of young people, as well as the sectors and local economies that require the support most.

“For this new plan to truly support 60,000 young people, the Government must guarantee that grants are only available for businesses that provide secure work, fair pay and roles that offer progression for the future. Research shows that any job isn’t always better than no job.

“If these new grants simply subsidise businesses to offer low quality jobs, they will risk exacerbating one of the key challenges keeping young people out of the labour market in the first place. Young people are already twice as likely to find themselves in a severely insecure job than older workers. Alongside poor pay and limited progression, insecure work can deepen existing physical and mental health challenges, and mean some young people remain reliant on the welfare system for the long term.”

Vivienne Stern MBE, Chief Executive of Universities UK, said:

“Universities know how difficult it is for young people entering the world of work at the moment and share the government’s commitment to tackling youth unemployment. That’s why, through our Future Jobs programme, universities across the UK are listening to business leaders to ensure their courses deliver real opportunity and prepare young people for the workplace.

“However, defunding the apprenticeships that businesses say are vital to productivity and people’s career advancement is not a compromise that is in the interests of the economy or individuals. These courses are crucial to driving the government’s growth mission. In just one year, management apprenticeships contributed £119.5 million to GDP, and the skills that they instil in learners are central to the UK’s ambition for a more productive, high-skilled economy.

“We will continue to work with the government to support learners at all stages of their careers, and to develop courses and qualifications that match the needs of the economy.”

David Garcia, Chair of the British Cleaning Council, said: “We are extremely disappointed to hear of the planned defunding of the Level 2 Cleaning Hygiene Operative apprenticeship. 

“This is an alarming step backwards for one of the biggest industries in the UK, a sector which underpins public health and safety, and national resilience. 

“The industry lobbied for this entry-level qualification for years, partly to help attract young people to work in the sector. 

“Removing this foundational pathway strips new entrants of a vital professional route, undermines workforce capability at a time of acute labour shortages, and signals a devaluation of the essential skills that keep workplaces, schools, hospitals, and communities safe.

“Just over two years after the apprenticeship was approved, 88 learners have been certified, 245 apprentices are currently on the programme, and 25 employers and 15 training providers are taking part. 

“It is deeply unfair that we face once again being in the situation where the cleaning and hygiene sector spends millions of pounds annually in Levy payments but businesses do not have a dedicated cleaning and hygiene apprenticeship to invest those funds in.

“We are working with organisations across the sector to actively explore options to challenge this decision.”